The Biggest #NVLeg Story You Haven't (Yet) Seen

I know this week has been chock full of hot Nevada Legislature stories. One in particular continues to grab headlines. However, there's one major story that saw an exciting development on Tuesday... Yet hasn't received much attention.

Let's change that.



Remember when we discussed this session's flurry of ethics & campaign finance reform related bills? One of the bills we looked at was Senator Justin Jones' (D-Enterprise) SB 203, which requires lobbyists to file quarterly activity reports.

I just happened to be on the Senate floor when SB 203 was being considered there. Senator Jones rose to speak on his bill. And there was some banter going back and forth among other Senators on the matter. And I was wondering how this would turn out. After all, ethics and campaign finance bills don't always have an easy ride in Carson City.



However, this time was different. I was stunned as the vote was called. At first, the vote looked like it was going to be painfully close. But then, this happened.



It was unanimous! How often does the Nevada Senate unanimously agree on anything? And this happened for a bill that requires lobbyists to file quarterly reports?

I know, I know, this is just a small niche of policy. Perhaps others just consider this a "baby step". But when considering how difficult it had been to pass any kind of reform in past sessions, what happened in the Senate on Tuesday may truly be huge news.

We've seen this constantly in Carson City. Corporate lobbyists run around the Legislature Building and privately cut their deals with lawmakers. So much has been so secretive. Yet this week, the Nevada Legislature made a major move in curbing this by calling for more transparency in lobbying activities.

Of course, there's still more to do. SB 203 must now go to the Assembly for approval. The fate of the other ethics & campaign finance bills is still unknown. And signs of scandal continue to loom over Carson City.

But at least on Tuesday, signs of hope emerged. Perhaps this time, the Legislature can take steps to end the rampant culture of corruption. It would be nice to see a happy ending to this kind of story for a change.

On Harvey Whittemore (& Heidi Gansert)... & A Way to Shut Down That Merry-go-round

Yesterday, Harvey Whittemore was denied a motion to drop his charges. Wait, what? Who?

Remember Harvey Whittemore? He was once at the top of Nevada's political ladder. He was the "preeminent juice man". And then, all of a sudden, his house of cards started tumbling down. His planned mega-development at Coyote Springs fell apart when last decade's "Real Estate Bubble" burst. His business partners then turned on him. And now, he will indeed go to trial on corruption charges.

A federal judge has denied motions by a former Nevada political powerbroker to dismiss charges alleging he used his family and employees to make illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reports U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks on Tuesday denied four motions filed by Harvey Whittemore seeking dismissal of the government's case.

Whittemore was indicted June 6 by a federal grand jury on four counts stemming from campaign contributions made in 2007 to Reid.

Of course, the usual suspects will try to spin this all sorts of ways. So let's first clear this up: Harvey Whittimore was an opportunistic and bipartisan "juice man". He once had close ties to Harry Reid, Dean Heller, and a whole host of politicians at all levels of government across the state. He was only abandoned when the FBI began investigating him.

As we've discussed before, this is the tactic often used to deflect from the real pursuit of real solutions to this ongoing problem of corruption in Nevada Government. It's easy to just blame a politician who once received campaign contributions. It's much riskier to actually propose shutting down the ongoing "Merry-go-round of Corruption".

So what can be done? Secretary of State Ross Miller has offered SB 49 for better campaign finance reporting. State Senator Justin Jones (D-Enterprise) has offered SB 203 as a companion bill, as it calls for lobbyists to file quarterly reports. These bills at least allow for more transparency.

However, there's another step we can take to curb corruption. We've discussed it before. And we need to bring it up again now.

We will only experience more of these embarrassing corruption scandals if we fail to address the root of this problem. That's why we eventually need real, serious dialogue on clean money. With clean money (or public financing of campaigns), we can finally have clean elections. And with clean elections, our elected officials are no longer beholden to shady "juice men" and conniving corporate lobbyists.

So before we hear any pundits and politicians restart the blame game on this and/or any future corruption scandals to emerge, we should dare them to offer a solution. Are they ready to bring clean money & clean elections to Nevada? If not, and if they don't like the concept of public financing, what is their solution?

We don't have to continue riding this merry-go-round. We can stop it... If we want to.

1:30 PM UPDATE:

Ha! That didn't take long. Nevada's next great corruption scandal is now here. Thanks, Heidi Gansert!

A former Democratic Party chairman has filed a complaint alleging former GOP Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert illegally kept campaign funds, then funneled them to a PAC she controlled and then disbursed the money.

The complaint, field today by ex-Washoe Democratic Party Chairman Chris Wicker, alleges Gansert kept more than $100,000 in unpsent campaign contributions after she left office in November 2010. (She later served as Gov. Brian Sandoval's chief of staff.)

Then, in October 2011, Gansert gave most of her unspent cash -- about $74,000 -- to a PAC called Nevada First, which was controlled by....Heidi Gansert.

Wicker, who is still a spokesman for the Washoe party, sent his complaint to the secretary of state's election integrity task force, saying Gansert took too long to dispose of the money and then chose a vehicle disallowed by the law.

Surprise! Heidi Gansert raised a ton of money in her last campaign. Yet when she left the Assembly to become Governor Brian Sandoval's Chief of Staff, she didn't leave that ton of money behind. Rather, she moved that money into her own PAC, then spent it on her favored candidates... Who were, of course, Nevada Republicans like Senator Greg Brower (R-Reno) and Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey (R-Reno).

Just who is actually surprised by this crap? Again, we see this all the time. So when will we actually do something about it? I wonder what supposed "corruption fighter" Pat Hickey has to say about this.

On Stopping That Merry-Go-Round of Corruption

It's a time honored tradition in Nevada politics. Corruption scandals emerge. Certain former legislators re-emerge as lobbyists. Ugly campaign finance reports surface. And all of a sudden, certain politicians pay lip service to "reform"... While actually working behind the scenes to kill actual reform.

This time, it's supposed to be different. Assembly Minority Leader and "born again reformer" Pat Hickey (R-Reno) has wanted us to forget his own checkered past on the subject and notice his newfound zeal for combating corruption. Yesterday, Hickey was trumpeting his own bill (AB 77) to slow the revolving door from the Assembly & Senate floors to lucrative lobbyist careers by implementing a one session "cooling off period". This sounds noble. And it seems like common sense. So of course, it's under attack by the very legislators-turned-lobbyists Hickey is targeting.

“I am the definition of the revolving door,” joked contractors lobbyist Warren Hardy, who was an assemblyman who became a lobbyist who became a senator who became a lobbyist again. “Saying I couldn’t go back to lobbying would be like saying (Sen.) Joe Hardy couldn’t got back to being a doctor.”

Of the handful of former lawmakers-turned-lobbyists interviewed by the Sun, all readily acknowledged their time in the Legislature has given them a leg up as a lobbyist.

They know the process. They know the people. They know the pitfalls.

“I don’t think I’d ever own my own independent business as a lobbyist if I hadn’t been a lawmaker first,” gaming and mining lobbyist Josh Griffin, who served one term in the Assembly, said. “Sure, it’s valuable experience for a lobbyist.”

And of course, there's "Moose Juice". Remember this?

“I think you have to hit things while the iron is hot,” said [Morse] Arberry [D-Las Vegas], who was in his final term in the Assembly because of term limits. “For 25 years I served in the Legislature and in public, and I bring relationships and a lot of knowledge to the table. A cooling-off period hinders an individual. Momentum you have is lost because then you’re not involved in the field.”

Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak laughed at Arberry’s comment. He called Arberry a friend, but said his remarks reflect “exactly why we need a cooling-off period.”

No really, he tried that. He didn't succeed there, but he's nonetheless now a lobbyist. Ah, Nevada politics at its best. (/snark)

And then, there's Ross Miller. Mr. Secretary of State made waves late last year with SB 63, his election reform bill. However, that's not the only legislation he's pursuing. Miller is also pushing for SB 49, which calls for more comprehensive and timely campaign finance reporting.

Ross Miller isn't new to this. He's tried campaign finance reform before. Of course, his past bills were quietly killed. He's also suing AFP over its questionable campaign activities, and he may find more success in court.

Ross Miller is hoping this Legislature session will be different. After all, he has some help. Not only is Senator Justin Jones (D-Enterprise) supporting SB 49, but he's also offering SB 203 as a companion bill. Jones' bill calls for lobbyists to file quarterly reports on their activities. (FYI, Jones was one of the candidates targeted by AFP last year.)



Of course, Miller and Jones are running into resistance. While no lobbyists actually showed up yesterday to testify against SB 49, they nonetheless found a more nefarious way to make their position clear on this and other campaign finance reform efforts. Make no mistake. This is coming.

Miller’s bill says any contribution of $1,000 or more must be reported to the secretary of state within 72 hours.

Whatever arguments you hear from legislators –how onerous that is, the great imposition – are smoke screens. How can they argue with a straight face that the public should not know as soon as possible when a contribution is made and for how much?

They can’t, so they will create diversions. Mark my words. Other parts of Miller’s bill also should sail through the committee and the Legislature because they would make the system more transparent:

Reporting how much a candidate has on hand, a glaring omission on current reports

Stricter reporting and policing of gifts from lobbyists

Defines what personal uses of campaign contributions are prohibited

One reason most readers might not take any of this seriously is because unless you are a political insider, you might find it hard to believe these loopholes exist. But they do, and their closure is long overdue.

So stay awake folks. Anyone who tries to kill this bill is interested only in perpetuating a corrupt system and is guilty of the kind of insidious, subtle corruption that is often invisible to the naked eye.

That's what's really at stake. And that's why the superpower legal/lobbying firms' arm of "The Gaming-Mining-Lobbying Industrial Complex" will likely go all in to kill all the transparency and ethics legislation pending this session. You likely won't see this at the committee hearings and the Assembly & Senate floors, but this will be pushed behind the scenes. After all, they hate it when the mask is pulled from the corrupt reality of Carson City.

We've discussed this many times before. Nevada Government has been a merry-go-round of corruption for quite some time. And while the modest reforms mentioned above won't completely end the ride on their own, they at least have the potential to slow the merry-go-round of corruption enough to where we have a better view of what's happening. That alone is why Miller's, Jones', and even Hickey's respective bills have a tough ride ahead.